When Knee Ligaments Go, Bored NBA Players Have Little to Do but 'Shoot, Shoot, Shoot'

Athletes who tear an anterior cruciate ligament will inevitably face questions about whether they'll ever be the same.

In basketball, when players return from this injury, many of them definitely aren't the same: They're better—at least when it comes to the crucial area of midrange shooting.

Because the rehabilitation for the injury allows them to stand, but not to do anything vigorous, NBA players who suffer it find themselves making do by playing what amounts to an endless game of H-O-R-S-E.

ENLARGE

Rose injured his knee on April 28.
Getty Images

Nene, a Washington Wizards center, was a 23.8% shooter from midrange before he tore his ACL in 2005. Since then, he's knocking down about 41% of his midrange attempts.

Before tearing his ACL in 2008 as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, Jason Smith shot a below-average 36% from midrange. Since returning, he's shot 45%, including 50.3% (78-for-155) this season playing for New Orleans. "It kind of gives you a laser focus on shooting, because it's really all you can work on for a while," said Smith. "Now, my midrange jumper is a big part of my game, where it really wasn't before."

In coming months and seasons, this funny little example of unintended consequences is headed for a series of high-profile tests. Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, 24, tore his ACL in last season's playoffs, a year after becoming the youngest person to win the NBA's Most Valuable Player award. Last month, Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, a then-26-year-old, four-time All-Star, tore his right ACL.

Just two weeks ago, the player many had projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft, Kentucky's Nerlens Noel, tore his left ACL.

Can these players really expect to emerge as better midrange shooters?

To find out, the Journal looked at 34 NBA players who have torn an ACL since 2003. To factor out the effects of age, we limited the sample to the 20 players who were 26 years or younger at the time of the injury. Since coming back, those players have shot 42% from 16 to 23 feet—up from 38% before their injuries, a fairly significant improvement.

That statistic looks even more persuasive when you consider that for players in that age range who have spent at least five years in the NBA and did not sustain an ACL injury—midrange shooting actually declined to 39% in their most recent season from 40% when they were rookies, according to Stats LLC.

Among those showing improvement after ACL work are Utah's Al Jefferson and Los Angeles Clippers guard Willie Green. Memphis guard Tony Allen's midrange shots stayed the same after ACL surgery, while former Orlando forward Pat Garrity's became slightly worse.

The sample is likely to grow: In 2012, when labor talks delayed the season and dramatically reduced the number of days off once it began, five NBA players suffered ACL injuries, up from an average of less than 3.5 over the last decade.

Rose and New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert went down within hours of each other last year on April 28, the first day of the playoffs. Days later, Knicks guard Baron Davis tore his ACL. All five of last year's victims were point guards.

Over time, ACL surgery has become much less intrusive—enabling players who were once sidelined for a year or more to return within eight months, if not sooner, which might start to reduce the improvements to shooting.

David Altchek, a knee surgeon and NBA medical consultant, forbids his players from doing any basketball-related activities for two months after surgery to allow swelling to go down. After 12 or 16 weeks, Altchek says he allows players to begin doing "light shooting," meaning set, stationary shots rather than jump shots.

But in months four to eight, he says, the medical protocol is shoot, shoot, shoot.

"Your knee isn't even strong enough to do jumping for a while," said Shumpert, a 22-year-old who made his season-debut in January. "It's a lot of set catching and shooting; probably more than I'd ever really done before."

In the weeks ahead, the league will become fixated on the return of Rose, perhaps the highest-profile NBA player ever to sustain the injury in his prime. He's begun to practice fully, but the Bulls remain cautious and haven't publicly discussed a return date. Rose's teammate Richard Hamilton, long seen as one of the game's best midrange shooters, said it wouldn't surprise him if Rose improved.

"There's two things I've noticed about him: One is his body, and how much strength he's added through his rehab. The other is how much time he's spent on that midrange, standstill jump shot," Hamilton said. "The only way to improve at something is to work on it, and everyone knows how hard he has been working on it."

Rose says he may not return until next season. And he plays down any talk about his midrange shooting. "I'm working on my shot," he told reporters, "but you're not going to label me as a shooter [when I return]. My game will always be driving."

If Rose does come back this season, don't expect to see his advances right away: these improvements tend to emerge in the second season. Smith of the Hornets, for instance, was just 32.4% from midrange when he returned in 2009.

"You just have really heavy, fatigued legs that first year back," Smith said. "I felt like I was coming up short on a lot of my shots. It takes a while to get used to your legs taking that pounding again."

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